• More Blake Shelton at Zune.net
• Blake Shelton Official Site
• Blake Shelton on MySpace
• Live Your Music
• Xbox LIVE Music Videos

Artist of the Month:

Blake Shelton

Published February 2, 2009

Blake Shelton's fifth album, Startin' Fires, confirms him as one of country music's most talented song stylists. After the phenomenal number one charting success of his cover of Michael Bublé's "Home," sung with girlfriend and fellow country music artist Miranda Lambert, Shelton was able to expand musically into new areas, as exemplified by a song on the new album, "She Wouldn't Be Gone."

Blake Shelton.

"[It's] definitely not the typical cut you'd hear on one of my albums," he says. "It's got a lot of minor chords and a unique melody for country music. Vocally, it's one of the tougher songs I'll ever sing and I love that. You have to have the right song and the right timing to do that, and 'Home' kind of opened the door for me." But this growth has also allowed him to reach back to his roots and discover just who he really is. "I think this album is probably more autobiographical than anything I've ever done," he says. "This album is a reflection of who I am and the things I love and always have—driving back roads, drinking beer, being outdoors. It's about who I am personally, and I hope other people can relate to it."

One of these autobiographical songs leads off the album, "Green." "I sit with my guitar, plant corn and watch the deer and hawks. When I left the house this morning, there was camouflage hanging on the clothesline—as redneck as it gets. And it's funny, the lifestyle I've lived for years and years has become the new green movement. It's my favorite song on the album because I can sing that with a big smile on my face, confident that people are getting a hundred percent who I am as a person."

Shelton's album, Startin' Fires, is available everywhere music is sold.

You can find out more about Blake Shelton by listening to the songs he sings on his new album, Startin' Fires, and be sure to check out his videos on Xbox LIVE® Marketplace!